Golf club head and shaft assembly

ABSTRACT

A golf driver or wood club head assembly has a shaft which is attached to the top of a club head at or near the midpoint of the contact surface or face of the club.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to golf clubs and, more particularly, to heads of drivers or woods used primarily for teeing off in the game of golf.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Golf clubs, including drivers or woods, generally comprise a head 1, as shown in FIG. 1, for contacting the golf ball wherein the head has a generally elongated contact surface 2 for contacting the ball sometimes referred to as the “face” of the head 1. Typically an elongated shaft 3 extends from the club for a length sufficient for the user to grasp one end of the shaft 3 and reach the ball, which is resting on the ground or on a tee in the ground, with the club head 1. The shaft 3 is grasped near the proximal end, which is the end opposite the club head 1, or the distal end.

Known golf clubs have the shaft 3 attached to and extending from the head 1 at the “heel” 4 of the head. In other words, if the golf club head 1 were compared to a human foot for reference, and the shaft 3 were compared to the human leg, the two are similar in that the leg extends from the foot at a location near and end of the foot above the “heel” rather than in the center of the foot or above the toes. Similarly, the shaft 3 of a golf club extends from the head 1 near the “heel” 4 of the head 1, opposite of the “toe” of the head 1.

Many golfers have a difficult time teeing off or hitting the golf ball with typical golf club drivers or woods and they tend to either “slice” or “hook” the ball. Ideally, the line of travel of the head 1 and a line perpendicular to the contact surface 2 would be coincident. A “slice” is when the ball will travel after being struck by the contact surface 2 in a direction that is at an angle relative to the travel direction of the head 1 in the direction of the “toe” 5 rather than generally perpendicular to the contact surface 2, which is the desirable direction. Often a slice shot will produce a great amount of undesired spin on the golf ball that will result in a less desirable travel path of the ball. The reason for slice shots is often that at some time during or near the moment of contact with the ball the contact surface 2 of the club head 1 is inadvertently turned so that the heel 4 leads in front of the toe 5 and, thus, a perpendicular line from the contact surface 2 is not coincident with the path of travel of the head 1. With the toe 5 behind the heel 4 at the moment of contact, the contact surface 2 is angled so that the impacting of the ball causes it to traject and an angle relative to the line of travel of the club head 1. The inadvertent turning is sometimes attributable to the user turning his hand that grips lower on the shaft palm up prematurely and/or to an undesired degree.

A “hook” shot is opposite of a slice in that the ball travels in a path at an angle toward the heel 4 of the head 1 relative to the line of the travel path of the head 1. This can result when a user inadvertently twists or turns the shaft 3 so that the toe 5 of the head 1 is in front of the heel 4 with respect to the travel path of the head 1. Similarly to slice shots, the hook shot can sometimes result in undesirable excessive spinning of the ball.

While slicing and hooking are not problems associated with putting, in putting clubs, or “putters”, the location of the shaft in relation to the contact surface of certain putters is approximately at the midpoint between the heel and toe of the contact surface. This results in improved control on the angle of contact of the contact surface at the moment of impact with the ball.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf club design that overcomes the shortcoming of known golf clubs including, but not limited to, the problems of slicing and hooking while teeing off with drivers and woods.

This object and others are achieved by the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a golf driver or wood club having a shaft which is attached to the top of a club head at or near the midpoint of the contact surface or face of the club. The result is that most users will modify their golf swing to read further toward the ball than if they used a conventional club in order to contact the ball at or near the center of the contact face. This results in users having less of a tendency to turn the lower gripping hand palm up such that the club head is undesirably rotated. It also favors a loose-gripping user for whom contact with the ball causes undesirable twisting of the shaft since the contact surfaces are closer to the shaft than on a conventional head, therefore resulting in smaller moment arms between the shaft and the contact surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf club head and shaft according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a first perspective view of a golf club head and shaft according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a second perspective view of a golf club head and shaft according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial, cross sectional view of a golf club head and shaft according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a golf club head and shaft according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A golf club head and shaft assembly 6 according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 2-5. A head 7 has a contact surface 8 having a heel 9 and a toe 10. A shaft 11 has a distal end 12 which is attached to the head 7. The shaft 11 has a proximal end (not shown) to which is preferably attached a golf club handle of the type conventionally known. The shaft 11 may be of any of a variety of typical golf club shaft lengths so that a user may comfortably grip and swing the shaft 1′ and club head assembly 6 to that the contact surface 8 contacts and drives a golf ball.

The location at which the shaft 11 is attached to the top 13 of the head 7 is aligned with a location approximately at or near the midpoint of the contact surface 8 between the heel 9 and the toe 10. Preferably the shaft 11 is attached to the top of the head 7 at a position aligned with the middle third of the contact surface between the heel 9 and the toe 10. While some location slightly outside of the range of the middle third is also within the scope of the invention, the optimum location is at the middle or within the middle third.

In contrast to putters, the driver or wood head 7 of the present invention has a width measured from the contact surface 8 to the rear 14 that is at least equal to or greater than half the length of the contact surface. Preferably, the driver or wood head 7 is solid and has no hollowed out portions, for maximum and balance weight suitable for driving or hitting long. This is in contrast to certain known putters which have a shaft extending from a location near the midpoint of the contact surface but have flattened and/or hollowed shapes and short dimensions between the contact surface and the rear, to minimize weight for delicate and accurate putting. As a driver or wood club the present invention assembly is directed to a club that has an entirely different purpose and that is swung in a different manner than a putter, the results are entirely different despite any superficial similarity.

While the preferred invention has been herein shown and described, it is understood that various modification can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. accurate putting. As a driver or wood club the present invention assembly is directed to a club that has an entirely different purpose and that is swung in a different manner than a putter, the results are entirely different despite any superficial similarity.

While the preferred invention has been herein shown and described, it is understood that various modification can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. 

1) A golf club head and shaft assembly comprising a head having a top side, a rear side and a contact surface located opposite the rear side, said contact surface having a first end and a second end; a shaft extending from said head and being attached to said head at a location on said top side and aligned with a position on said contact surface equidistant from said first end and said second end; and a width measured from said contact surface to said rear side that is greater than or equal to approximately half the distance between said first end and said second end. 2) A golf club head and shaft assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first end and said second end are separated by a first distance; and said shaft extends from said head and is attached to said head at a location on said top side and aligned with a position on said contact surface not more than two-thirds of the first distance from either one of said first end and said second end. 